Touch-Type Display Panel and Short-Repair Method Thereof

ABSTRACT

A touch-type display panel includes an array substrate including a plurality of sub-pixels defined by gate lines and data lines; a plurality of touch electrodes disposed to cover the sub-pixels; two or more touch driving lines that electrically connect a touch driving circuit to a respective one of the touch electrodes; and a connection line disposed on both sides of the one of the touch electrodes and configured to electrically connect the two or more touch driving lines.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2016-0143649, filed on Oct. 31, 2016, which is hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a display panel of a display device,and more particularly, to a touch-type display panel of a display devicein which a touch electrode is positioned, and a short-repair methodthereof.

Description of the Related Art

With progress of the information-oriented society, various types ofdemands for display devices for displaying an image are increasing.Various types of display devices such as a liquid crystal display (LCD),a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting diodedisplay device (OLED) have been used.

From among these display devices, the LCD includes an array substrateincluding a thin film transistor, an upper substrate including a colorfilter and/or a black matrix, and a liquid crystal material layer formedtherebetween, and alignment in the liquid crystal layer is adjusted byan electric field applied between two electrodes in a pixel area so asto adjust light transmittance, and, thus, an image is displayed.

The display panel in the LCD is defined by an active area AA thatprovides an image to a user and a non-active area NA that is aperipheral area of the active area AA. The display panel is typicallymanufactured by bonding a first substrate, serving as an array substrateon which a thin film transistor is formed and a pixel area is defined,and a second substrate, serving as an upper substrate on which a blackmatrix and/or a color filter layer are formed.

The array substrate or first substrate on which the thin film transistoris formed includes a plurality of gate lines GL extended in a firstdirection and a plurality of data lines DL extended in a seconddirection that is perpendicular to the first direction, and each pixel Pis defined by a gate line and a data line. Within a pixel area P, one ormore thin film transistors are formed, and a gate or source electrode ofeach of the thin film transistors may be connected to a gate line and adata line.

Also, the array substrate or first substrate includes a gate driver(driving circuit) or a data driving circuit provided in the non-activearea or outside the panel in order to supply a gate signal and a datasignal, required for driving each pixel, to each gate line and each dataline.

Particularly, in the non-active area of the display panel, varioussignal lines for supplying voltage signals, clock signals, etc. may beformed and in some cases, a gate-in-panel (hereinafter, also referred toas “GIP”)-type gate driving circuit included within the panel may beformed.

Meanwhile, in recent years, a display panel often has a touch functionfor sensing a touch input with a stylus pen or a user's finger. Adisplay panel manufactured by separately preparing a touch screen andinstalling the touch screen on the display panel, a touch integrateddisplay panel manufactured including a touch electrode and the likerequired for touch recognition within the display panel, and the likehave been developed.

Meanwhile, in the touch integrated display panel, there may occur ashort defect in which a touch driving line connecting the touchelectrode and a touch driver is shorted to a touch electrode besides itscorresponding touch electrode.

In this case, touch driving lines on both sides of the touch electrodewhere the short defect occurs may be repaired, but the repaired touchdriving lines have a change in electric resistance, which may causedegradation of touch performance.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present embodiments are directed to a touch-typedisplay panel and short-repair method thereof that substantially obviateone or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of therelated art.

An object of the present embodiments is to provide a touch-type displaypanel capable of suppressing degradation of touch performance caused bya short between a touch electrode and a touch driving line.

Another object of the present embodiments is to provide a touch-typedisplay panel capable of reducing and/or minimizing a change in electricresistance after a repair for a shorted touch electrode by providing aconnection line electrically connecting two or more touch driving linesin a touch integrated display panel including the two or more touchdriving lines.

Yet another object of the present embodiments is to provide a touchelectrode short-repair method in a touch-type display panel in which twoor more touch driving lines are assigned to each touch electrode andelectrically connected by a connection line. In the touch electrodeshort-repair method, if a short occurs between a touch driving line andanother touch electrode, the shorted touch driving line is cut from bothsides of the shorted touch electrode, and, thus, a change in electricresistance of the shorted touch driving line can be reduced and/orminimized even after a repair so as to suppress degradation of touchperformance.

Additional features and advantages of the embodiments will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments. Theobjectives and other advantages of the embodiments will be realized andattained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present embodiments, as embodied and broadly described, thetouch-type display panel and short-repair method thereof include atouch-type display panel, comprising an array substrate including aplurality of sub-pixels defined by gate lines and data lines; aplurality of touch electrodes disposed to cover the sub-pixels; two ormore touch driving lines that electrically connect a touch drivingcircuit to a respective one of the touch electrodes; and a connectionline disposed on both sides of the one of the touch electrodes andconfigured to electrically connect the two or more touch driving lines.

In another aspect, there is provided a short-repair method of atouch-type display panel including an array substrate on which aplurality of touch electrodes, a touch driver, two or more touch drivinglines electrically connecting the touch driver to a respective one ofthe touch electrodes, and a connection line disposed on both sides ofthe one of the touch electrodes and electrically connecting the two ormore touch driving lines, the short-repair method comprising sensing ashort in which one of the touch driving lines corresponding to the oneof the touch electrodes is electrically connected to another touchelectrode; and cutting the shorted touch driving line from both sides ofthe other shorted touch electrode.

In another aspect, there is provided a touch-type display panel,comprising an array substrate including a plurality of sub-pixelsdefined by gate lines and data lines; a plurality of touch electrodesdisposed to cover the sub-pixels; a first touch driving line and asecond touch driving line electrically connecting a touch drivingcircuit to a respective one of the touch electrodes; and a connectionline disposed on both sides of the one of the touch electrodes andconfigured to electrically connect the first and second touch drivinglines, wherein the array substrate includes a short in which the firsttouch driving line corresponding to the one of the touch electrodes iselectrically connected to another touch electrode, and wherein theshorted first touch driving line is cut from both sides of the anothertouch electrode such that the entire second touch driving line, aremaining part of the first touch driving line other than the cut partof the first touch driving line, and a connection line disposed on bothsides of the other touch electrode are electrically connected to eachother and the cut part of the first touch driving line is electricallyfloated.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of thepresent disclosure and together with the description serve to explainthe principles of the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a touch integrated display panel to which anexample embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example where two touch driving lines are used foreach touch electrode in the display panel of FIG. 1 and also illustratesa short occurring between a touch driving line and another touchelectrode and a short-repair status;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a touch-type display panel according to anexample embodiment of the present disclosure in which two or more touchdriving lines are assigned to each touch electrode and a connection lineelectrically connecting the two or more touch driving lines is includedon both sides of each touch electrode;

FIG. 4 illustrates the principle of reducing a change in electricresistance after a short-repair in a case where a connection line fortouch driving lines is used according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan views illustrating a position of a connectionline for touch driving lines according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ of FIG. 5A andillustrates positions of the touch driving lines and the connection linetherefor according to the present example embodiment;

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a connection line for touch driving linesaccording to another example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow of a short-repair process for a display panelincluding a connection line for touch driving lines according to anexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

When reference numerals refer to components of each drawing, althoughthe same components are illustrated in different drawings, the samecomponents are referred to by the same reference numerals as possible.Further, if it is considered that description of related knownconfiguration or function may cloud the gist of the present disclosure,the description thereof will be omitted.

Further, in describing components of the present disclosure, terms suchas first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) can be used. These terms are usedonly to differentiate the components from other components. Therefore,the nature, order, sequence, or number of the corresponding componentsis not limited by these terms. It is to be understood that when oneelement is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” anotherelement, it may be directly connected to or directly coupled to anotherelement, connected to or coupled to another element, having stillanother element “intervening” therebetween, or “connected to” or“coupled to” another element via still another element.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a touch integrated display panel to which anexample embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied.

A display panel to which the present disclosure can be applied is atouch-type display panel and more specifically a touch integrated(in-cell) display panel including touch electrodes therein.

The display panel is manufactured by bonding a first substrate, servingas an array substrate on which a pixel area defined at an intersectionbetween a gate line and a data line and including two or more thin filmtransistors is formed, and a second substrate, serving as an uppersubstrate on which a black matrix and/or a color filter layer areformed.

Meanwhile, the display panel includes a plurality of common electrodeswithin an active area. Such a common electrode is used to apply a commonvoltage Vcom to each pixel so as to apply an electric field to a liquidcrystal material due to a potential difference from a pixel electrode.

In a typical display panel, such a common electrode may be formed tohave a large planar shape. However, in the touch integrated displaypanel, the common electrode is also used as a touch electrode for touchsensing. Because the touch electrode may need to be divided for eachtouch position, the common electrode is divided into a plurality oftouch electrodes 110 in the active area as illustrated in FIG. 1.

In this case, a unit of division of the touch electrode may be referredto as a “touch unit sensor”, and in the present specification, forconvenience, each touch unit sensor may be referred to as a touchelectrode.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the touch integrated display panel is dividedinto an active area (AA) in a central area and a non-active area NA in aperipheral area, and a plurality of touch electrodes 110 is disposed onthe active area.

Each of the plurality of touch electrodes is connected to a data drivingcircuit or a touch driving circuit (D-IC or T-IC) 120 disposed on oneside of the display panel (e.g., a lower portion of FIG. 1) through atouch driving line 112.

The data driving circuit 120 functions as a control unit for sensing atouch position by sensing a capacitance due to a touch operation afterapplying a specific touch driving signal or touch driving voltage to theplurality of touch electrodes 110.

Also, the plurality of touch electrodes 110 is connected to the touchdriving circuit (D-IC) 120 through the touch driving line 112, and asingle touch driving line 112 may be generally assigned to each touchelectrode as illustrated in FIG. 1. In some cases, two or more touchdriving lines may be used for each touch electrode as illustrated inFIG. 2.

Each touch driving line 112 is electrically connected to itscorresponding touch electrode as illustrated in FIG. 1. In the datadriving circuit 120, a touch driving signal is applied to each touchelectrode through a touch driving line 112.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example where two touch driving lines are used foreach touch electrode in the display panel of FIG. 1, and alsoillustrates a short occurring between a touch driving line and anothertouch electrode and a short-repair status.

As shown in FIG. 2, a first touch driving line 112 and a second touchdriving line 112′ are assigned to a first touch electrode TE11, and thefirst touch driving line 112 and the second touch driving line 112′ areelectrically connected to the touch electrode TE11 through contact holesP and Q.

Likewise, two touch driving lines for a second touch electrode TE12vertically extend on the entire display panel. These two touch drivinglines are electrically connected to the second touch electrode TE12through contact holes P′ and Q′.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the touch driving line 112 mayextend from the data driving circuit 120 to its corresponding touchelectrode. However, the touch driving line 112 may extend on the entirearea of the display panel, as illustrated in FIG. 2 in order to equalizean electric resistance in all touch driving lines.

That is, if touch driving lines are extended only to their correspondingtouch electrodes and electrically connected to those touch electrodes,respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a touch driving linecorresponding to the uppermost touch electrode is the longest, and atouch driving line corresponding to the lowermost touch electrode is theshortest, which results in a difference in electric resistance betweenthe touch driving lines.

As described above, a touch input can be recognized by supplying a touchdriving voltage to a touch electrode through a touch driving line andthen measuring a capacitance change occurring in the touch electrode dueto a touch operation. Therefore, it is desirable for all touch drivinglines to have the same electric resistance.

Therefore, a structure in which all touch driving lines are formed to bevertically extended on the entire display panel and electricallyconnected to their corresponding touch electrodes, as illustrated inFIG. 2, may be used. In this case, all the touch driving lines may havethe same electric resistance. Thus, touch recognition can be performedconsistently.

Also, if a single touch driving line is used for each touch electrode asillustrated in FIG. 1, when a touch driving line has a defect (a shortwith another touch electrode or a short of the touch driving line), thecorresponding touch electrode may not recognize a touch.

Meanwhile, if two or more touch driving lines are assigned and used foreach touch electrode as illustrated in FIG. 2, even when a single touchdriving line has a defect, touch recognition may be performed. Also, ascompared with the structure in FIG. 1, an electric resistance of thetouch driving lines is decreased. Thus, touch recognition sensitivitycan be improved.

That is, if two or more touch driving lines are used for each touchelectrode as illustrated in FIG. 2, and two touch driving lines supplythe same touch driving signal to their corresponding touch electrode andthen, a capacitance change is measured, an electric resistance of thetouch driving lines for the single touch electrode is decreased, and,thus, touch sensitivity can be improved.

For this reason, in a touch-type display panel, a technique of using twoor more touch driving lines for each touch electrode may be adopted.

Meanwhile, in the touch-type display panel as illustrated in FIG. 2,there may occur a touch electrode-short defect in which one of the touchdriving lines is electrically connected to another touch electrodebesides its corresponding touch electrode.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the first touch driving line 112 andthe second touch driving line 112′ should be electrically connected onlyto the first touch electrode TE11, but may include a short area S wherethe first touch driving line 112 and the second touch driving line 112′are electrically connected to another touch electrode, e.g. the secondtouch electrode TE12, due to conductive foreign material within thedisplay panel during a manufacturing process of the display panel.

In the present specification, for convenience, another touch electrodeexcept a touch electrode to which two or more touch driving lines needto be connected may be referred to as “the other touch electrode.”

As such, if there occurs a short defect between one of the two touchdriving lines and the other touch electrode, a repair process of cuttingthe shorted touch driving line from both sides of the other shortedtouch electrode and electrically insulating them may be performed inorder to solve the short defect. This process may be referred to as ashort-repair process.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 2, if the first touch driving line 112,which should be connected only to the first touch electrode TE11, has ashort defect (area S) in which the first touch driving line 112 isshorted with the other touch electrode, e.g. the second electrode TE12,a short-repair process of cutting the first touch driving line 112 frompoints R1 and R2 on both sides of the second touch electrode andelectrically insulating them is performed.

If the short-repair process is performed, a touch driving signal cannotbe input through the first touch driving line 112 shorted with the othertouch electrode. As a result, the touch driving signal is normallyapplied to the first touch electrode only through the second touchdriving line 112′. Therefore, the first touch electrode TE11 can sense atouch.

However, according to the short-repair process as illustrated in FIG. 2,an electric resistance of the touch driving line to the touch electrodecorresponding to the cut touch driving line becomes different from anelectric resistance of a touch driving line in another touch electrodedue to the repair.

That is, in the example as illustrated in FIG. 2, the first touchdriving line 112 is cut by the short-repair, and, thus, an electricresistance of all of the touch driving lines assigned to the first touchelectrode TE 11 includes only an electric resistance of the second touchdriving line 112′, and not the reduced electric resistance of the firsttouch driving line 112 in parallel with the second touch driving line112′. Therefore, as compared with the electric resistance of anothertouch electrode which is decreased by two touch driving lines, anelectric resistance of the touch driving lines for the first touchelectrode is almost two times higher than an electric resistance of thetouch driving lines in another touch electrode.

As such, if an electric resistance of the touch driving lines in theshort-repaired touch electrode is different from that of another touchelectrode, the short-repaired touch electrode has a different touchsensing sensitivity from the other touch electrodes. Therefore, thetouch sensitivity uniformity on the entire display panel maydeteriorate.

Examples of the present embodiments may provide a touch-type displaypanel in which two or more touch driving lines are assigned to eachtouch electrode and a connection line connecting the two or more touchdriving lines is provided on both sides of the touch electrode and ashort-repair method of the display panel. Thus, the present exampleembodiments may provide a way to reduce (and possibly minimize) a changein electric resistance of the touch driving lines even after ashort-repair.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a touch-type display panel according to anexample embodiment of the present disclosure in which two or more touchdriving lines are assigned to each touch electrode and a connection lineelectrically connecting the two or more touch driving lines is includedon both sides of each touch electrode.

The touch-type display panel according to the present example embodimentincludes an array substrate as illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6. On thearray substrate, a plurality of gate lines GL and a plurality of datalines DL are disposed, and sub-pixels SP serving as pixel areas aredefined by the gate lines and the data lines. The array substrate 500includes a plurality of touch electrodes 310 disposed to cover aplurality of the sub-pixels, two or more touch driving lines 312 and312′ connecting an inner or outer touch driving unit and each of thetouch electrodes, and a connection line 314 disposed on both sides ofeach of the touch electrodes and configured to electrically connect thetwo or more touch driving lines.

That is, the touch-type display panel according to a present exampleembodiment is an in-cell touch-type display panel including touchelectrodes therein and using two or more parallel touch driving linesconfigured to apply a touch driving signal to each touch electrode. Inthis structure, a connection line electrically connecting two or moretouch driving lines disposed in parallel on both sides of each touchelectrode is further provided. Thus, as will be described below, even ifthere occurs a short defect in which a touch driving line is shortedwith the other touch electrode and a short-repair process is performedthereto, it may be possible to reduce and/or minimize a change of anelectric resistance of the short-repaired touch driving line.

Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the touch-type display panelaccording to a present example embodiment will be described in detail.

The touch-type display panel according to the present example embodimentmay be manufactured by bonding a first substrate, serving as an arraysubstrate on which a sub-pixel area SP defined at an intersectionbetween a gate line GL and a data line DL and including one or more thinfilm transistors is formed, and a second substrate, serving as an uppersubstrate on which a black matrix and/or a color filter layer areformed.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the display panel according to the presentexample embodiment is divided into an active area (AA) in a central areaand a non-active area NA in a peripheral area, and a plurality of touchelectrodes 310 is disposed on the active area.

Further, a touch driver 320 may be disposed inside or outside thetouch-type display panel. The touch driver 320 is a control unitfunctioning to sense a touch by applying a touch driving signal or atouch driving voltage to touch electrodes and measuring the amount ofchange of a capacitance in each of the touch electrodes.

The touch driver 320 may be implemented as being combined with a datadriving circuit (D-IC) configured to apply a source signal to datalines. In the following description, for convenience, the touch driverand the data driving circuit (D-IC) will be used as having the samemeaning, but are not limited thereto, and in other embodiments, thetouch driver 320 may be implemented separately from the data drivingcircuit.

Meanwhile, as described above, the touch electrode 310 is also used as acommon electrode for applying a common voltage Vcom to each sub-pixel,and each touch electrode is disposed so as to cover a plurality ofsub-pixels.

Also, each of a plurality of touch electrodes 310 may be connected tothe data driving circuit or data driver 320 on one side of the displaypanel (e.g. lower portion of FIG. 1) through the two or more touchdriving lines 312 and 312′.

In the following description, for convenience, each touch electrode 310will be described as being connected to the two touch driving lines 312and 312′ disposed in parallel. However, the number of touch drivinglines connected to a single touch electrode is not limited to two butmay be three or more.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a first touch electrode 310 on the upper rightside is connected the two touch driving lines 312 and 312′, and a secondtouch electrode 310′ right under the first touch electrode 310 isconnected to other two touch driving lines.

That is, as described above, in the touch-type display panel accordingto the present example embodiment, each touch electrode is connected totwo or more touch driving lines, and, thus, an electric resistance ofthe touch driving lines is decreased and touch sensing sensitivity canbe improved.

Further, the touch driving lines 312 and 312′ according to the presentexample embodiment are extended not only to their corresponding touchelectrode, but from one side to the other side of the display panel(e.g., from a lower side where the D-IC is disposed to an upper side inFIG. 3) and connected to their corresponding touch electrode throughcontact holes.

As such, touch driving lines connected to all of the touch electrodesmay be set to have the same length, and, thus, the touch driving linesfor the touch electrodes may be maintained at the same electricresistance, which results in uniform touch performance.

Meanwhile, as will be further described below with reference to FIG. 6,the touch driving lines 312 and 312′ and the connection line 314according to the present example embodiment are formed as a differentlayer from a pixel electrode and the touch electrode. For example, thetouch driving lines 312 and 312′ and the connection line 314 may beformed as a metal layer referred to as an M3 layer disposed between apixel electrode layer and a touch electrode layer.

Meanwhile, the display panel may include a gate driver (GIC) 130 (asshown in FIG. 1) directly formed on the display panel as a gate drivingcircuit in the non-active area NA on one side of the display panel(e.g., on the left of FIG. 1), but the example embodiments of thepresent disclosure are not limited thereto.

Examples of a touch method in the touch-type display panel may include amutual capacitance method (Mutual Cap.) in which a touch electrode isdivided into a driving touch electrode Tx and a sensing touch electrodeRx where a capacitance difference between the driving touch electrode Txand the sensing touch electrode Rx is measured, and a self-capacitancemethod (Self Cap.) in which touch electrodes are disposed on the sameplane in a lattice shape without division of a transmittance andreception where a self-capacitance is measured.

Hereinafter, a driving method of the touch-type display panel accordingto an example embodiment will be generally described.

A driving mode where the panel operates to display an image may bereferred to as a “display driving mode” and a mode where the panelfunctions as a touch screen panel may be referred to as a “touch drivingmode”.

The display driving mode and the touch driving mode can be dividedaccording to time.

First, in the display driving mode, the data driving circuit D-ICsupplies a data voltage Vdata for display to the plurality of data linesDL.

Meanwhile, when the panel is in the display driving mode, the gatedriver sequentially supplies a scan signal for display to the pluralityof gate lines GL so as to switch a transistor and thus display an image.

In the display driving mode, a common voltage Vcom is applied to thetouch electrode 110 functioning as a common electrode through the twotouch driving lines 312.

Meanwhile, in the touch driving mode, the touch driver 320 within thedata driving circuit D-IC applies a touch driving signal Vtouch_vcom toall or some of a plurality of touch electrodes 310 connected theretothrough the two touch driving lines 312 and 312′.

Herein, the touch driving signal Vtouch_vcom may also be referred to as“touch sensing signal,” “touch sensing voltage,” or “touch drivingvoltage.”

Meanwhile, the touch driver 320 senses sensing data (for example, acapacitance, the amount of change of capacitance, a voltage, or thelike) measured by each touch electrode by analyzing signals receivedthrough the respective touch electrodes 310. Thus, the touch driver 320can detect a touch or non-touch and touch coordinates.

As such, the panel of the touch-type display device according to thepresent example embodiment is driven by repeating the display drivingmode and the touch driving mode. The timing of the display driving modeand the timing of the touch driving mode can be controlled in responseto control signals output from a timing controller or a touchcontroller, or in some cases, can be controlled through cooperationbetween the timing controller and the touch controller.

Meanwhile, a display device including a touch-type display panelaccording to an example embodiment may use a capacitance touch method inwhich a touch or non-touch and touch coordinates are detected on thebasis of a change of a capacitance through a plurality of touchelectrodes (for example, horizontal direction electrodes and verticaldirection electrodes) formed on the display panel, as a touch sensingmethod.

The capacitance touch method may be classified into, for example, amutual capacitance touch method and a self-capacitance touch method.

The mutual capacitance touch method, as an example of the capacitancetouch method, enables touch electrodes disposed in one direction, amongthe horizontal direction electrodes and vertical direction electrodes,to function as Tx electrodes (also referred to as driving electrodes) towhich a driving voltage is applied, and electrodes disposed in the otherdirection to function as Rx electrodes (also referred to as sensingelectrodes) sensing the driving voltage and forming a capacitance withthe Tx electrodes. The mutual capacitance touch method detects a touchor non-touch and touch coordinates on the basis of a change of acapacitance (mutual capacitance) between a Tx electrode and an Rxelectrode depending on the presence or absence of a pointer, such as afinger or a pen.

The self-capacitance touch method, as another example of the capacitancetouch method, includes forming a capacitance (self-capacitance) betweeneach touch electrode and a pointer, such as a finger or a pen, measuringa capacitance value between each touch electrode and the pointer, suchas a finger or a pen, depending on the presence or absence of thepointer, and detecting a touch or non-touch and touch coordinates on thebasis of the measured capacitance value. Unlike the mutual capacitancetouch method, the self-capacitance touch method concurrently applies andsenses a driving voltage (touch driving signal Vtouch_vcom) through eachtouch electrode. Therefore, in the self-capacitance touch method, the Txelectrodes and the Rx electrodes are not distinguished.

A touch-type display panel to which the present disclosure can beapplied may employ one of the above-described two capacitance touchmethods (mutual capacitance touch method and self-capacitance touchmethod). In description of present example embodiments described herein,for convenience in explanation, the self-capacitance touch method isemployed.

Meanwhile, the plurality of touch electrodes 310 mentioned hereinfunction as “touch electrodes.” to all or portions of which a touchdriving signal is applied, in the touch driving mode as described above.In the display driving mode, the plurality of touch electrodes 310 alsofunction as “common electrodes,” to which a common voltage Vcom isapplied and which are configured to form liquid crystal capacitorstogether with pixel electrodes disposed on the panel.

Meanwhile, in the touch-type display panel according to the presentexample embodiment, a plurality of gate lines GL and a plurality of datalines DL are formed. A single pixel or sub-pixel SP is formed at anintersection between a gate line and a data line.

The single touch electrode 310 has an area that may cover several tensof (sub-)pixels. Therefore, the number of touch electrodes is smallerthan the number of data lines.

The touch-type display panel according to the present example embodimentmay further include an upper substrate or color filter substratedisposed on one side of the array substrate. This upper substrate orcolor filter substrate may include a black matrix BM as a lightshielding unit disposed to cover around a sub-pixel (e.g., at the areasbetween sub-pixels), and may be provided in addition to the arraysubstrate (first substrate) on which thin film transistors, sub-pixels,pixel electrodes, and touch electrodes are disposed as described above.

In this case, one or more of the touch driving lines 312 and 312′ andthe connection line 314 may be disposed to be overlapped with the blackmatrix of the upper substrate. Details thereof will be described belowwith reference to FIG. 5.

As illustrated in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the touch-type displaypanel according to the present example embodiment further includes theconnection line 314 electrically connecting a pair of touch drivinglines corresponding thereto on both sides of each touch electrode.

The connection line 314 may be formed as a different layer from a touchelectrode and a pixel electrode, and formed between the adjacent touchelectrodes in a plan view.

FIG. 4 illustrates the principle of reducing (and possibly minimizing) achange in electric resistance after a short-repair in a case where aconnection line for touch driving lines is used according to an exampleembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example where a short defect occurs in which thefirst touch driving line 312 among the two touch driving lines 312 and312′ assigned to the first touch electrode (TE11) 310 is shorted withanother touch electrode, e.g. the second touch electrode (TE12) 310′.

If the short defect occurs, a short-repair process is performed. Thus,the shorted portion of the first touch driving line 312 is cut frompoints R1 and R2 on both sides of the second touch electrode (TE12) 310′so as to be electrically insulated from the remainder of the first touchdriving line 312.

In this case, the remaining first touch driving line 312 except the cutportion R1-R2 is electrically connected to the second touch driving line312′ by the connection line 314.

As a result, after the short-repair process according to the presentexample embodiment is performed, in the display panel, the entire secondtouch driving line 312′, the remaining part of the first touch drivingline 312 except the cut part of the first touch driving line (portionR1-R2), and the two connection lines disposed on both sides of the othertouch electrode where the short defect occurs, e.g. the second touchelectrode 310′, are connected to each other and thus form a touchdriving signal application line to the first touch electrode 310.

In other words, after the short-repair process according to the presentexample embodiment is performed, the touch-type display panel includessub-pixels defined by gate lines and data lines, a plurality of touchelectrodes disposed to cover a plurality of the sub-pixels, a touchdriving line unit including the first touch driving line 312 and thesecond touch driving line 312′ connecting an inner or outer touchdriving unit and each of the touch electrodes, and a connection linedisposed on both sides of each of the touch electrodes and configured toelectrically connect the first and second touch driving lines. If thereoccurs a short in which the first touch driving line is electricallyconnected to the other touch electrode (TE2) 310′ in addition to itscorresponding touch electrode (TE1) 310, the shorted first touch drivingline is cut from both sides of the other shorted touch electrode. As aresult, the entire second touch driving line 312′, the remaining part ofthe first touch driving line except the cut part of the first touchdriving line portion R1-R2, and the connection lines 314 disposed onboth sides of the other touch electrode (TE2) 310′ are electricallyconnected to each other, and the cut part of the first touch drivingline portion R1-R2 is electrically floated.

Therefore, as compared with the structure in FIG. 2, after theshort-repair process, a change of an electric resistance of the touchdriving line can be reduced (and possibly minimized) by the connectionlines 314.

That is, if a short-repair is performed in the structure as illustratedin FIG. 2, the first touch driving line 112 as one of the two touchdriving lines is completely separated from the data driver D-IC, and,thus, an electric resistance of all touch driving lines for the repairedtouch electrode is almost two times higher than an electric resistanceof touch driving lines for the other normal touch electrode.

However, if the connection line 314 connecting the two touch drivinglines is provided according to the present example embodiment, even whena short-repair is performed, an electric resistance is decreased only bythe amount corresponding to the cut portion (R1-R2 in FIG. 4) of theshorted first touch driving line 312.

That is, the remaining portion of the first touch driving line 312except the cut portion is electrically connected to the second touchdriving line 312′ by the connection line 314, and, thus, a decrease inelectric resistance may be reduced and/or minimized.

The cut portion has a far smaller length than the whole length of theshorted touch driving line 312, and, thus, a decrease in electricresistance caused by the short-repair may be very insignificant.Therefore, even after the short-repair process, an electric resistanceof touch driving lines for all touch electrodes can be maintaineduniformly. As a result, it is possible to suppress a change of touchperformance caused by the short-repair.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan views illustrating a position of a connectionline for touch driving lines according to an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken alongline A-A′ of FIG. 5A and illustrates positions of the touch drivinglines and the connection line therefor according to the present exampleembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, a touch-type display panel according to thepresent example embodiment includes an array substrate 500 on which athin film transistor, a pixel electrode, and a touch electrode aredisposed and an upper substrate 700 disposed above the array substrate.

The upper substrate 700 may also be referred to as a second substrate ora color filter substrate, and includes a black matrix 720 as a lightshielding unit disposed around a sub-pixel and defining an opening of apixel and a color filter 710.

The black matrix 720 may refer to a light shielding unit disposed on anarea which does not output an image, such as a gate line, a data line, athin film transistor, and the like, among the sub-pixel areas.

The black matrix 720 is disposed to surround a predetermined area of anopening of each sub-pixel or pixel, as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the connection line 314according to the present example embodiment may be disposed to beoverlapped with the black matrix 720 formed on the upper substrate.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the touch electrodes (TE11 and TE12)310 are formed to cover a plurality of sub-pixels (SP) 340, and theblack matrix 720 of the upper substrate is disposed on an edge of eachsub-pixel.

In this structure, the connection line 314 is disposed under the blackmatrix 720, as illustrated in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, and thus overlappedwith the black matrix 720 in a plan view.

Further, the first touch driving line 312 as one of the two touchdriving lines may also be disposed to be overlapped with the blackmatrix 720, as illustrated in FIG. 5A. Otherwise, all of the two touchdriving lines may be disposed to be overlapped with the black matrix720, as illustrated in FIG. 5B.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the first touch electrode TE11is formed to cover sub-pixels SP11, SP12, SP13, and the like, and thesecond touch electrode TE12 is formed to cover sub-pixels SP21, SP22,SP23, and the like. The black matrix 720 is disposed around eachsub-pixel, and the two touch driving lines, e.g., the first touchdriving line 312 and the second touch driving line 312′ for the firsttouch electrode TE11, are connected to the first touch electrode TE11through contact holes P and Q, respectively.

In this structure, all of the first touch driving line 312, the secondtouch driving line 312′, and the connection line 314 are disposed to beoverlapped with the black matrix 720 formed between the sub-pixels.

As will be described below, in a present example embodiment, the touchdriving lines and the connection line are formed as separate metallayers (M3 layers) unlike a pixel electrode or a touch electrode (commonelectrode) formed of a transparent conductive material, and thusfunction to block leakage of light generated in a sub-pixel.

That is, the touch driving lines and the connection line according tothe present example embodiment are opaque and disposed to be overlappedwith a light shielding area, e.g., the black matrix 720, of the uppersubstrate, and, thus, it may be possible to suppress a decrease insub-pixel opening ratio caused by the connection line.

Also, the connection line 314 according to the present exampleembodiment is disposed on both sides of each touch electrode and in aspace between the adjacent touch electrodes.

As described above, the touch driving lines 312 and 312′ and theconnection line 314 are formed as different layers from the touchelectrode. Therefore, the connection line is not necessarily disposedbetween the adjacent touch electrodes in a plan view.

However, if the connection line 314 is disposed to be overlapped with apart of the touch electrode, an unnecessary parasitic capacitance may begenerated between the connection line 314 and the touch electrode. Theparasitic capacitance may cause degradation of touch performance orpixel characteristics.

Therefore, because the connection line 314 according to the presentexample embodiment is disposed on both sides of each touch electrode andin a space between the adjacent touch electrodes, it may be possible tosuppress the generation of a parasitic capacitance.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ of FIG. 5A andillustrates the layout relationship among the thin film transistor, thetouch driving line 312, and the black matrix 720 on the left, andillustrates the layout relationship between the connection line 314 andthe black matrix 720 on the right.

In the description of the present example embodiment, for convenience, aside on which a gate electrode of a substrate is formed is referred toas a “lower part” and a side on which a touch electrode (commonelectrode) is formed is referred to as an “upper part.” That is, theupper substrate's (color filter substrate's) side of the display panelis an “upper part,” and the array substrate's side is a “lower part.”

In the touch-type display panel to which an example embodiment of thepresent disclosure is applied, a structure of a pixel area on which thetouch electrode 310 is formed is next described.

With reference to FIG. 6, in the pixel area, the array substrateincludes a gate line formed on the first substrate and a gate electrode510 extended from the gate line, and may include a gate insulation film512 formed on the entire area including an active area and a non-activearea on the gate electrode 510 and a semiconductor pattern 513 formed onthe gate insulation film 512 so as to be overlapped with a part of thegate electrode 510.

The semiconductor pattern 513 constitutes an active area of a thin filmtransistor TFT and may be formed of amorphous silicon (a-Si) or an oxidesemiconductor such as zinc oxide (ZnO)-based oxide, for example, indiumgallium zinc oxide (IGZO), zinc tin oxide (ZTO), zinc indium oxide(Z10), but is not limited thereto.

Also, the array substrate may include a data line intersecting with thegate line with the gate insulation film (GI) 512 interposedtherebetween. The thin film transistor TFT may include a sourceelectrode 514 extended from the data line and a drain electrode 515facing the source electrode 514, and a pixel electrode 516 formed on theentire pixel area defined by an intersection between the gate line andthe data line and connected to the drain electrode of the thin filmtransistor TFT.

Further, an organic protection layer (PAC) 517 functioning as aninterlayer insulation layer and protection layer is formed on the gateinsulation layer (GI) 512 on which the data line and the thin filmtransistor TFT are formed.

The organic protection layer (PAC) 517 may be formed of a material suchas photo-acryl, acrylate, polyamide, benzocyclobutene (BCB), but is notlimited thereto.

The touch driving line 312 is formed of a different material on adifferent layer from a data metal layer on the organic protection layer(PAC) 517, so as to be overlapped with the data line.

Herein, the touch driving line 312 may be formed of low resistance metalsuch as aluminum (Al), aluminum-neodymium (AlNd), copper (Cu),molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum-titanium (MoTi), chromium (Cr), etc. or analloy thereof, but it is not limited thereto.

A metal layer forming the touch driving line 312 may be referred to as afirst metal layer or an M3 metal layer.

Then, an inorganic protection layer (PAS) 518 functioning as aninterlayer insulation layer and additional protection layer is formed onthe touch driving line 312 and the pixel electrode 516.

The inorganic protection layer (PAS) 518 may be formed of an inorganicinsulating material such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide(SiO₂), but it is not limited thereto.

The touch electrode 310 according to the present example embodiment isformed on the inorganic protection layer (PAS) 518. The touch electrode310 also functions as an electrode for applying a common voltage Vcomand thus may also be referred to as a common electrode.

Meanwhile, the touch electrode (common electrode) 310 may beelectrically connected to the touch driving line 312 through a contacthole penetrating the inorganic protection layer (PAS) 518.

In this case, the gate line or a gate metal layer of the gate electrodeor a source/drain metal layer may be a material including at least oneof aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy (AlNd), copper (Cu), copper alloy,molybdenum (Mo) and molybdenum alloy (MoTi) as a metal material having alow resistance characteristic.

Also, in the present example embodiment, the touch electrode (commonelectrode) 310 may be a transparent electrode, and may be formed of atransparent conductive material having a relatively high work function,for example, metal oxide such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO) orindium-zinc-oxide (IZO), and a combination of metal and oxide such asZnO:Al or SnO₂:Sb.

Further, the gate insulation film (GI) 512 and the inorganic protectionlayer (PAS) 518 may be formed of an inorganic insulating material suchas silicon oxide (SiO₂) or silicon nitride (SiNx), but are not limitedthereto, and the gate insulation film (GI) 512 and the inorganicprotection layer (PAS) 518 may also be formed of other electricallyinsulating materials.

Meanwhile, the right side of FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional viewcutting a space between the adjacent touch electrodes in which the gateline 510 is disposed on a lower side and the gate insulation film 512,the organic protection layer 517, and the inorganic protection layer 518are disposed thereon, and the connection line 314 formed as an M3 metallayer is disposed between the organic protection layer and the inorganicprotection layer.

According to the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the touchdriving line 312 and the connection line 314 are formed as the samelayer, e.g. the first metal layer or the M3 metal layer. Therefore,while the M3 metal layer is patterned on the organic protection layer517, the touch driving line 312 and the connection line 314 may beformed at the same time.

Furthermore, the upper substrate 700 including the black matrix 720 andthe color filter 710 is formed above the array substrate 500.

In this case, the touch driving line 312 and the connection line 314 aredirectly under the black matrix 710 of the upper substrate. As a result,the touch driving line 312 and the connection line 314 are formed to beoverlapped with the black matrix 710 of the upper substrate.

In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the organic protectionlayer 517 and the inorganic protection layer 518 have been described asbeing sequentially formed with the pixel electrode 516 and the M3 metallayer interposed therebetween, but are not limited thereto. Only theinorganic protection layer or the organic protection layer may be used,or one protection layer may have a double-layer structure having two ormore layers.

FIG. 7 illustrates a connection line for touch driving lines accordingto another example embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the example embodiments illustrated through FIG. 6, the connectionline 314 is formed as the M3 metal layer which is the same layer as thetouch driving line 312. However, in the example embodiment illustratedin FIGS. 7A and 7B, the connection line 314 may be formed as a differentlayer from the touch driving line 312.

That is, the example embodiment in FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate that theconnection line 314 connecting the two touch driving lines 312 and 312′between both touch electrodes is formed as the same layer as the touchelectrodes.

That is, while a touch electrode TE is patterned, the connection line314 is also formed on both sides of each touch electrode, and theconnection line 314 is configured to be electrically connected to thetouch driving lines 312 and 312′ of the M3 metal layer through a contacthole 519 formed in the inorganic protection layer 518.

According to the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, theconnection line 314 is formed of the same transparent conductivematerial as the touch electrode. Therefore, even if the connection line314 is not overlapped with a black matrix, it may be possible tosuppress a decrease in pixel opening ratio caused by the connectionline.

Particularly, the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 may beadvantageous when being applied to a display panel without using a blackmatrix.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow of a short-repair process for a display panelincluding a connection line for touch driving lines according to anexample embodiment of the present disclosure.

A short-repair method of a touch electrode according to the presentexample embodiment is applied to a touch-type display panel including anarray substrate on which a plurality of touch electrodes, a touchdriver, two or more touch driving lines connecting the touch driver andthe respective touch electrodes, and a connection line disposed on bothsides of each touch electrode and electrically connecting the two ormore touch driving lines are disposed as illustrated in FIG. 3 throughFIG. 6.

For example, the short-repair method may include a short sensing step(S812) of sensing a short in which one of touch driving linescorresponding to one touch electrode is electrically connected toanother touch electrode, and a cutting step (S814) of cutting theshorted touch driving line from both sides of the other shorted touchelectrode.

In the short sensing step (S812), a short status may be sensed byanalyzing a touch signal received through a touch driving line. Forexample, when a short occurs as illustrated in FIG. 4, a touch sensingsignal received through a touch driving line for the second touchelectrode TE12 becomes identical to a touch sensing signal receivedthrough a touch driving line for the first touch electrode TE11. If sucha status is sensed, a short defect as illustrated in FIG. 4 may besensed.

In the cutting step (S814), the shorted touch driving line is cut fromboth sides of the other shorted touch electrode by, e.g., laser cutting.Thus, the touch driving line between cutting points on the both sides ofthe other shorted touch electrode is electrically insulated from anothertouch driving line. In this case, a laser cutting process or a laserrepair process may be used in order to cut two points of the shortedtouch driving line, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In this case, the remaining touch driving line except the cut portion iselectrically connected by the connection line. Thus, it is possible toreduce and/or minimize a change of an electric resistance of all touchdriving lines caused by the short-repair.

Accordingly, even after the short-repair, there may be almost no changein touch performance.

According to the above-described example embodiments of the presentdisclosure, it may be possible to suppress degradation of touchperformance caused by a short between a touch electrode and a touchdriving line in a touch-type display panel.

For example, in a touch integrated display device in which two or moretouch driving lines are used for each touch electrode, a connection lineelectrically connecting the two or more touch driving lines is provided.Thus, it may be possible to reduce and/or minimize a change in electricresistance after a repair for a shorted touch electrode.

Also, in a touch-type display panel in which two or more touch drivinglines are assigned to each touch electrode and electrically connected bya connection line, if a short occurs between a touch electrode and atouch driving line for another touch electrode, the shorted touchdriving line is cut from both sides of the shorted touch electrode, and,thus, a change in electric resistance of the shorted touch driving linecan be reduced and/or minimized even after a repair. Therefore, it maybe possible to suppress degradation of touch performance.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the a touch-type displaypanel and short-repair method thereof of the present disclosure withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it isintended that the present disclosure cover the modifications andvariations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch-type display panel, comprising: an arraysubstrate including: a plurality of sub-pixels defined by gate lines anddata lines; a plurality of touch electrodes disposed to cover thesub-pixels; two or more touch driving lines that electrically connect atouch driving circuit to a respective one of the touch electrodes; and aconnection line disposed on both sides of the one of the touchelectrodes and configured to electrically connect the two or more touchdriving lines.
 2. The touch-type display panel according to claim 1,wherein: the array substrate further includes: one or more thin filmtransistors disposed in respective sub-pixels; and a pixel electrodeconnected to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor; and theconnection line and the touch driving lines are a metal layer betweenthe pixel electrode and the touch electrodes.
 3. The touch-type displaypanel according to claim 1, further comprising: an upper substratedisposed on one side of the array substrate and including a black matrixdisposed to define openings of the sub-pixels, wherein the connectionline is disposed to be overlapped with the black matrix.
 4. Thetouch-type display panel according to claim 3, wherein the touch drivinglines are disposed to be overlapped with the black matrix.
 5. Thetouch-type display panel according to claim 1, wherein: the arraysubstrate further includes: one or more thin film transistors disposedin respective sub-pixels; and a pixel electrode connected to a drainelectrode of the thin film transistor; and the connection line isdisposed on a different layer from the touch driving lines.
 6. Thetouch-type display panel according to claim 5, wherein the connectionline is disposed on the same layer as the touch electrode andelectrically connected to the two or more touch driving lines throughcontact holes.
 7. The touch-type display panel according to claim 2,wherein the two or more touch driving lines are extended from one sideto the other side of the array substrate.
 8. The touch-type displaypanel according to claim 2, wherein the connection line is disposed in aspace between two adjacent ones of the touch electrodes.
 9. Ashort-repair method of a touch-type display panel including an arraysubstrate on which a plurality of touch electrodes, a touch driver, twoor more touch driving lines electrically connecting the touch driver toa respective one of the touch electrodes, and a connection line disposedon both sides of the one of the touch electrodes and electricallyconnecting the two or more touch driving lines, the short-repair methodcomprising: sensing a short in which one of the touch driving linescorresponding to the one of the touch electrodes is electricallyconnected to another touch electrode; and cutting the shorted touchdriving line from both sides of the other shorted touch electrode. 10.The short-repair method according to claim 9, wherein: the arraysubstrate further includes: one or more thin film transistors disposedin respective sub-pixels defined by gate lines and data lines; and apixel electrode connected to a drain electrode of the thin filmtransistor; and the connection line and the touch driving lines are ametal layer between the pixel electrode and the touch electrodes. 11.The short-repair method according to claim 10, wherein the touch-typedisplay panel further includes: an upper substrate disposed on one sideof the array substrate and including a black matrix disposed to defineopenings of the sub-pixels, wherein the connection line is disposed tobe overlapped with the black matrix.
 12. The short-repair methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the cutting the shorted touch driving lineis performed through one or more of a laser cutting process and a laserrepair process.
 13. A touch-type display panel, comprising: an arraysubstrate including: a plurality of sub-pixels defined by gate lines anddata lines; a plurality of touch electrodes disposed to cover thesub-pixels; a first touch driving line and a second touch driving lineelectrically connecting a touch driving circuit to a respective one ofthe touch electrodes; and a connection line disposed on both sides ofthe one of the touch electrodes and configured to electrically connectthe first and second touch driving lines, wherein the array substrateincludes a short in which the first touch driving line corresponding tothe one of the touch electrodes is electrically connected to anothertouch electrode, and wherein the shorted first touch driving line is cutfrom both sides of the another touch electrode such that the entiresecond touch driving line, a remaining part of the first touch drivingline other than the cut part of the first touch driving line, and aconnection line disposed on both sides of the other touch electrode areelectrically connected to each other and the cut part of the first touchdriving line is electrically floated.